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When Xia Fei wakes up on his third day in this unfamiliar house, the first thing that hits him isn’t the bed that’s strangely too comfortable or the bright morning light filtering through the curtains. It’s the glaring, unnatural splash of red against the stark white sheets. His face burns before he even registers why.
Lying beside him is a man with long, crimson hair, breathing slow and steady, eyes shut. Having been in his other form until now and seeing the world in hues of yellow and blue, Xia Fei hadn’t realised that this person’s hair was a striking colour he could only recognise as a human.
That’s when it hits him: Ah, I’ve turned back to normal now.
His first instinct is to bolt—slip out before the man wakes up and mistakes him for a creep who’s snuck into his bed. Or worse, some deranged pervert. But just as he shifts to move, he notices the heavy arm slung casually over his waist, anchoring him in place.
Xia Fei freezes.
For a shapeshifter, Xia Fei is utterly useless. He can only turn into a puppy when he’s sick or injured, or when his emotions are fluctuating to the extreme.
Yet despite the panic rising in him—Xia Fei doing his best not to pull his hair out right there and then—he does not, in fact, turn back into a puppy. No matter how much he thinks his current emotional state should warrant it.
His mind races as he stares at the sleeping man. He doesn’t even know how he ended up here in the first place. He was clearly curled up on the sofa when he last closed his eyes… Did he sleep walk onto the bed in the middle of the night or something?
Taking a deep breath, Xia Fei forces himself to think.
Okay. No big deal. Just… slip out carefully. The man might be a light sleeper, but who cares? If the only other option is to wait for him to wake up on his own, better now than never.
With painstaking caution, he starts to peel the man’s arm off until a deep voice fills the air.
“There, there. Don’t move around. Be obedient.”
Xia Fei goes rigid. His heart stutters as he looks up to meet a pair of crimson eyes—the same vivid red as his hair—staring straight at him. There’s no grogginess in that gaze, no trace of sleep. Just calm and sharp awareness.
Shit.
The intensity of the stare roots Xia Fei to the spot, making it impossible for him to just up and run out the door. His brain scrambles for something— anything —to say and break the tension.
“Uh…” is all he manages, tongue numb.
The man tilts his head, a curious smile tugging at the corners of his lips. His eyes dance with amusement, as if thoroughly entertained by Xia Fei’s obvious discomfort, waiting patiently for him to continue.
Xia Fei’s mind blanks. Before his brain can catch up, he instinctively schools his features into the most innocent, wide-eyed expression he can muster. And in a dumb act of desperation, he raises his fists to his cheeks as he blinks up at the man.
“Woof...?”
Three days ago…
Xia Fei sits huddled beneath a torn awning in an empty alleyway, the relentless rain soaking through his mangled fur. Streaks of dirt cling to his body, mixing with the chill in the air. Much like his mood, the sky is grey and heavy.
Desperate for money, he’s been juggling various part-time jobs while trying to keep up with his studies, but even that isn’t enough to cover his living expenses as he secretly sends money back home. Maybe he’s pushed himself too hard, or maybe the exhaustion has finally caught up with him. All he knows is that one moment he was on the clock, and the next, his body had betrayed him, shifting into his puppy form right in the middle of his shift. In his panic, he immediately ran out before anyone could notice, not wanting to get caught.
He’ll probably get fired, but what’s another job lost? It’s not like this is the first time. At least this time, it’s because he made a mistake. He just hopes they won’t toss out his belongings before he can retrieve them.
A shiver racks his small frame, followed by a soft, pitiful sneeze. The city of Bridon, ever gloomy, seems to mock his misery with its endless downpour. And he can’t even tell how much time has passed because of all the clouds blocking out the sunlight.
That’s when he hears quiet footsteps approaching from behind, accompanied by an eerie humming that cuts through steady drumming of the rain. The hairs on his neck stand on end.
Xia Fei scans the narrow alley for cover, but there’s nowhere to hide. Resigned, he curls into a corner, turning his back to the approaching stranger. No normal person would bother with a stray dog, right?
Except, this doesn’t seem to be a normal person.
A pair of hands suddenly lifts him by the scruff of his neck. Xia Fei yelps in surprise as he finds himself face-to-face with a man whose smile is a little too wide. His long hair is neatly braided over his shoulder, and a single earring dangles from his ear. The glint in his eyes is sharp with interest.
“A puppy?” the man muses, his deep voice tinged in curious delight.
Xia Fei growls, ready to bite that smug grin off his face. But before he can act, the man pulls him close, cradling him against his chest. He gently strokes his fur, completely unfazed by the grime. The muscles that had been tense immediately relax, Xia Fei’s defenses melting away in the warmth of the man’s embrace.
He helplessly snuggles in closer.
The man lets out a sigh, more felt than heard. “What am I to do if you can’t take care of yourself?” he murmurs, as Xia Fei’s eyelids begin to droop. Just before he drifts off, he hears the man’s voice, domineering yet unexpectedly warm. “I guess I’ll just have to take you in.”
“Woof?” The man raises an eyebrow, a teasing glint in his crimson eyes. “Trying to act cute?”
Xia Fei’s entire face turns bright red. He shakes his head adamantly, mortified.
“Oh?” The man’s voice holds no disappointment, only amusement. “What a pity~”
The words make Xia Fei’s blush deepen. Unable to deal with the situation, he gets onto his knees and bows, hiding his burning face. He doesn’t realise his neck is just as red. “Sorry for causing you trouble these past few days… sir.”
He thinks about how much of a burden he’s been. The man had to buy him food, medicine, and even got a veterinarian to come over and check on him.
A pause lingers in the air before the man chuckles. At the sound, Xia Fei’s fingers dig into the sheets. “I’m Vein. Nice to meet you.”
Confused by the out of pocket greeting, Xia Fei keeps his head lowered, forehead sinking deeper into the soft mattress. “I wanted to tell you I was a shapeshifter from the start and let you know that you didn’t need to take me in, Vein sir, but…” His voice turns sheepish as he continues, “I wasn’t sure how to tell you when I could only bark.”
“Stop calling me sir,” the man replies, his voice friendly but with an underlying authority. “Just call me Vein. Lift your head.”
Xia Fei does as he’s told, gulping nervously. To his surprise, the man— Vein —suddenly stretches a hand out towards him.
Xia Fei blinks, confused, thinking Vein is asking for compensation. “…Thank you for saving me, but I—uh—don’t have any money right now. I… I’m kind of broke. But I can pay you back when I get my paycheck in two weeks,” he rambles, scratching the back of his neck. “If that’s okay with you, of course.”
Vein’s response is something entirely unexpected. “You bark a lot. Is it because you’re a puppy?”
Thrown off, Xia Fei pauses. “What?”
“I’m not asking for money. Why would I need money from a broke college student with only 50 pounds in his bank account?” Vein shrugs nonchalantly.
Xia Fei’s heart skips a beat. “How do you—”
“Know?” Vein’s smile widens. “I know a lot about you, Xia Fei—or should I say, Felix?” He tosses his hair over his shoulders and starts braiding it lazily as he continues. “How you’re a physics student here in Bridon, how you work your little butt off day and night to pay bills that never seem to end. Oh, and how you got fired three days ago.”
For someone who should be worried about spending time with a potential stalker, Xia Fei’s first thought is , ‘So I really did get fired.’ Only then does he pull himself together, snapping back to the gravity of the situation.
“What do you want?” he asks cautiously.
Vein stretches his hand towards him again, lips curling up with mirth. “Paw,” he simply says.
“Huh?”
Is he treating me like a dog?
Xia Fei hesitates but begrudgingly places his hand in Vein’s. Vein immediately grins and starts petting Xia Fei’s hair. “Good boy.”
The words should feel demeaning, but instead, the blood rushes up to his face once more and Xia Fei bites his lip. He hasn’t even noticed that a pair of ears have sprouted atop his head, nor his tail swishing behind him, until Vein scratches the new, fluffy ears. “Oh, you can do this too?”
Really. Despite living with this stupid body his whole life, Xia Fei still doesn’t fully understand how it works. This is the first time something like this has happened.
He just silently nods, ears twitching involuntarily.
Just as Xia Fei starts to sink into the sensation, closing his eyes, Vein’s finger hooks under his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. Xia Fei’s heart pounds in his chest, loud in his ears.
Vein’s sharp canines flash through his grin, as he says, “You look tasty. Want to work for me?”